


This Is Our (Asgardian) Get-Along Shirt

by Illyah



Series: Apparently Elle's Writing Stucky Now [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, All HYDRA related triggers-Except Rape, Amputation, Brainwashing, Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Canon Divergence, Casual Discussion Of Trauma, Howling Commandos - Freeform, I almost forgot Hawkeye-Just like the Russos, I don't know how else to tag this, Kid Bucky Barnes, Kid Winter Soldier, Loki doesn't have time for this shit, M/M, Memories, Mentions of canon HYDRA abuse, Post-Civil War, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Somewhere, Thanos is coming in six months, There is no sexual abuse in this story, Tony Stark Has A Heart, WWII, We'll find it, allusions to racism, awkward moments, he does the best he can, the depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-28 19:00:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15055658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illyah/pseuds/Illyah
Summary: To say that things at the Avengers complex were tense when the Asgardians arrived would have been the understatement of the century. The Avengers had finally found their way back to each other only to feel more divided than ever. Tony and Bucky barely spoke two words to each other, preferring to glare silently and hatefully across the living room.Thanos was coming in six months and Loki absolutely did not have time for this shit.The Winter Soldier "mysteriously" gets de-aged, and Bucky Barnes works through some shit. So do his friends.





	1. The Game is Afoot!

To say that things at the Avengers complex were tense when the Asgardians arrived would have been the understatement of the century. The Avengers had finally found their way back to each other only to feel more divided than ever. Tony and Bucky barely spoke two words to each other, preferring to glare silently and hatefully across the living room.

Nat and Clint spent a lot of time side eyeing Tony as well, with a good dose of suspicion for Bucky thrown in as well, while Steve just looked constipated most of the time, and like he was fighting a losing battle with his temper when it came to Tony.

For Steve, it wasn’t just about Bucky, but that was a huge part of it. He was angry at what Tony had allowed to happen to Wanda and Sam and the others on The Raft. And it wasn’t that Steve didn’t understand Tony’s feelings, he just desperately wished there was something he could do change things, both for Tony and also for Bucky. Steve hated that he carried around so much guilt for things that he didn’t have control of.

The last time Loki had felt this overwhelming feeling of negativity was when he found himself captured aboard the Chitauri space craft before his failed invasion of New York. The negative charge to the air was like a prickling under his skin that had his magic tensing and him turning and hissing to Thor, “what the Hel happened?” He knew that even with his limited grasp on magic Thor would be able to feel the tension in the air.

Thor was excited to see his friends after such a long separation, but he couldn’t deny the foreboding feel of the air. Something was amiss.

“Greetings, Friends!” He tried for his usually level of cheer, but it most definitely fell flat. He’d briefed his friends the best he could from the Ark, explaining about the destruction of Asgard and Tony had taken time, along with the rest of the team to set up temporary shelters on the complex grounds, enough to house the remainder of Thor’s people until they could find a permanent home.

Loki disembarked shortly after Thor, wanting to give his brother time to greet his friends before having to reveal himself, not wanting to sour their reunion.

“Greetings Thor’s Midgardian friends.” He said softly.

“Ah, yes!” Thor boomed, this time with actual fondness, “I trust you remember my brother?”  He addressed the group.

The only person standing on the lawn who didn’t recoil was large brunet man with an arm made of metal. Ah, that made sense, he hadn’t been around during the New York fiasco.

If Tony had rolled his eyes any harder they would have fallen out of his head, and in typical fashion just couldn’t hold in the snark “Excuse me,” he said waving his arms and looking around exaggeratedly, “I was just checking for Ultron, if we’re going for the hattrick of mass murdering serial killers.” The only indication that his taunt had hit home was a slight tightening around Barnes’ eyes.

Thankfully Thor broke the tension with his easy chuckle and small smile, “My friend! I see your tongue is as sharp as ever.” And proceeded to pat Tony on the back hard enough that he just about fell over.

The two Asgardians made sure to fill the rest of the team in on exactly what had happening, this time skipping over no detail until they had a group of slack-jawed Avengers on their hands.

Loki spent the following week phasing in and out of his pocket dimensions within the complex, trying to scope out what was causing the rift between the former friends before stumbling on a conversation between Steve and Tony.

“Would you please stop with the serial killer shit, Tony?” Steve was whispering, rather tensely.

“Hate to break it to you, Cap, but it’s not shit, your buddy actually _is_ a serial killer. I’m just making sure he doesn’t forget.”

“Do you really think I’d spend my life with someone who killed without remorse?” Steve asked, and Loki could hear the familiar vulnerable-hurt in his tone.

“I think war changes people.”

“It wasn’t his fault.”

“My Mom is still dead.” The end of the conversation was short and sharp, with Tony glaring and Steve hissing between his teeth.

“You want me to eat shit over what happened to Wanda and Sam, fine. That’s on me. But tell me, Cap, are you even sure he’s sorry?”

Steve didn’t seem to have an answer for that, and Loki correctly assumed that Bucky still wasn’t great at the whole _talking_ thing.

Loki found Thor later, standing on a balcony over looking the camp his people were making.

“I confess I find myself curious about the good Sergeant.” Loki told his brother. “I wonder what has befallen him before now.”

“I expect it’s much the same as what happens to any child sent off to war.”  Thor told him, introspectively. Thor really had become far more insightful over the past few years. And that…was actually a good idea. Loki was quite displeased he hadn’t come up with it in his own-thought he’d never admit it.

If they hadn’t been in such dire straits, he was sure that he could have come up with a better plan, but they were six months from staring down the end of the world and didn’t have time for this family drama. Everyone likes kids. Most importantly, everyone trusts kids, because kids don’t lie.

Three days later in the middle of yet another tense team breakfast, the tension is suddenly broken but a tiny blur of brown and silver colliding with the back of Steve’s legs.

Steve had three whole seconds of satisfaction watching Tony choke on his coffee and stutter out, “Is-is that a tiny Winter Soldier?” All Steve had to offer is wide eyed shock, staring down at a pint size version of his best friend.


	2. First Impressions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kid!Bucky meets the team, and the Winter Soldier begins to discover his person hood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Quick explanation of Kid!Winter’s headspace. He remembers everything, but it’s all seen through the filter of a child and expressed in the same way. Its adult shit told with kid truth. It’s basic facts and emotional honesty.
> 
> Also, I know I said this was post-CW but I need Bucky to keep his HYDRA arm for this to work-so yeah, still post CW but Bucky keeps the arm. (Sorry Shuri, your arm was cool as fuck). This fic diverges after they leave Siberia.

The thing about Thor was that he could move quite quickly if he wanted, especially accounting for his large size, and somehow managed to slip out of the kitchen without anyone noticing, leaving Tony, Steve, Bucky, Nat, Sam, Bruce and Clint behind.

“I thought we agreed no tricks, brother, show yourself.” He called into the seemingly empty air.

“Here’s the thing…” Loki began to defend himself. “It was actually all your idea!” And defecting blame.

“Oh I cannot wait to hear this, brother. How am I responsible for you turning Midgard’s best assassin into a small child of five?!”

It took five minutes and more than one stern look from Thor before the story was told in its entirety. “We do not have time for this, Thor, Thanos draws closer every day! I will not allow the petty squabbles of mortals to bring about the second fall of Asgard.”

Back in the kitchen things weren’t going well. It really said something about the team that this wasn’t even in the top five weirdest things that had had happened to them. Bucky had managed to convince Steve to pick him up, not that it was hard, it just required a small set of extended arms and a puffed-out lip. He was sitting propped on Steve’s hip looking around with wide eyes, cataloguing the scene in front of him. As soon as Bucky’s eye hit Tony Steve knew what was going to happen before it did. Bucky’s eyes started to water and his lip started to wobble and within second he was letting out an ear wrenching sob and burying his face in Steve’s shoulder.

Well, that was a new one for Tony. He’d never managed to make someone cry just by looking at him before. Considering that person was Bucky Barnes Tony thought he’d have enjoyed it more, but all he saw now was a scared, sad kid. Then he got even angrier. How _dare_ Barnes make Tony feel sorry for him? In the time between when Barnes started sobbing and when Tony managed to reign in his temper, Bucky had buried his face in Steve’s should and was casually wiping his face all over Steve’s shirt.

“Hey Buck,” Steve cooed at the adorable kid in his arms. “Wanna introduce yourself to everyone?” And Steve knew that Bucky had had a few simple interactions with the team, but he was so silent so much of the time no one even knew what the _adult_ Bucky remembered, much less this new, kid-Bucky.

Bucky shrugged into Steve’s shoulder. Steve was good, and solid. Steve was safe. He dreamed about Steve when he was someone else. Steve would tell him the truth.

“Why’d they wantsta know me?” Bucky asked, thick Brooklyn accent peaking through.

“Because they’re my friends and you’re my best pal and one day maybe they can be your friends, too.” Steve told him.

Bucky was lost. Why would these people want to be his friends? Friends were for people and he was sure he wasn’t a person. He’d know if he were a person, right?

He looked up at Steve with bewildered blue eyes. “But, friends are for people, Stevie.” And there was no sadness behind his tone-just genuine confusion.

Steve on the other hand, looked like Bucky had just ripped out this heart and suddenly he was being squeezed tightly against Steve’s chest. Bucky couldn’t stand to see that look on Steve’s face again, so he gently patted his cheek with his tiny metal hand “It’s okay, Stevie! I’ll say hi to your friends!” he said.

And because Tiny Winter was still the Winter Soldier he gracefully jumped out of Steve’s arms.

Sam was still reeling from the pint-sized super soldier’s confession of dehumanization, and it distressed him to know that Bucky really felt that way. And then he immediately felt guilty for the way he’d behaved in Germany. He’d honestly just thought that Bucky was an asshole and had let his frustration with Steve’s seemingly never-ending search cloud his judgement of what was really going on, but hearing it discussed like it was no big deal was arresting-to say the least. He wondered how many of them had overlooked the terrible things done to him because of his less-than charming personality. He was a therapist for fuck sake, he should have known better. And Natasha’s silent judgement coming from his left wasn’t helping anything.

Suddenly there was a small child in front of him, taking a deep breath and looking him straight in the eyes. “’M Bucky.” He mumbled and held out a hand that tiny in comparison to Sam’s large one. “It’s nice to meet you, Bucky, I’m Sam.” And the weird thing was, was that Sam was the Avenger he’d spent the most time with aside from Steve and Nat (but that was a long time ago) but they’d actually never done this before.

Clint immediately took to the tiny sniper. Hearing him talk about himself like that reminded him painfully of Natasha when he had first met her. The Russians really did a number on their people. He knew that eventually Barnes would change back into an adult but he promised himself right then and there that he would do anything he could to make this kid’s life easier while the kid still allowed it. And Clint was great with kids, mostly because he was a giant one himself. He was already hatching plans for babysitting when a small hand started poking at his arm.

“Hi, I’m Bucky. You gotsa weird look on your face. Hope it doesn’t get stuck that way.” The kid said and Clint laughed and introduced himself. “I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun together, kiddo.” Clint told him, conspiratorially.

Bruce was confused. He just didn’t understand this kid, why wasn’t he angry? He’d had terrible things done to him and he just seemed to accept it and move on. Of course, Bruce knew that wasn’t true, adult Barnes had spent most of the time since Bruce had arrived hiding in the corner, trying to keep his arm hidden and taking up as little space as possible. But Bruce would have expected more outright anger after having been separated from his captors for such a long time this point, but the kid, while still weary of those around him didn’t seem to be outright angry at anyone. Bruce wondered if he could learn anything from the kid. He hoped he could. He’d take anger management lessons wherever he could get them.

“Hi, I’m Bucky, Stevie says you got lots of HDs!”

It took Bruce a minute before he realized that he meant PhD’s and he was glad _someone_ in the room was acknowledging his value beyond the Hulk. Thanks for the inferiority complex, Thor.

He slowly approached Tony next, keeping his head low to the ground and not raising his eyes, even when he introduced himself, the last time he met Tony had _hurt_ and Bucky was afraid it was going to happen again. He didn’t want to be hurt anymore, but Steve said these people wouldn’t hurt him, and Bucky was choosing to believe him.

“I’m Bucky.” He said, sullenly before turning quickly away and walking up to Nat. Tony felt a tiny twinge that this kid was so uncomfortable around him but didn’t respond.

Steve had to quickly hide a smile when he saw the hearts in the tiny soldier’s eyes. Of course, his adult Bucky was, as he used to say “queer as a three dollar bill, Steve.” Which obviously made the whole scene that was unfolding even more adorable.

Natasha understood how uncomfortable it would be for the kid to have all these people towering over him, it had made her uncomfortable when she was a tiny assassin surrounded by people much larger than her, so she made sure to crouch down so she was eye level with the adorable boy. She couldn’t quite believe that for the majority of her life she’d been afraid of this person, he seemed to painfully human now. The irony of that wasn’t lost on her.

As soon as she was eye level with him he sucked in a shocked gasp and blurted “You’re real pretty, Natalia.” Before blushing crimson and running to hide behind Steve’s legs, and earning a rare smile from the stoic woman.

Late that night the calculating part of himself that he could never quite shut off-even in this new form tried to figure out if he was a person. No one had talked to him before, but they talked to him now. People talk to other people, and sometimes objects-inconclusive.

He had a name. He was called Bucky. People had names.

Steve said that Bucky was his friend. People had friends, he’d said so himself.

People liked and disliked things. He wasn’t sure if he did.

But the time his eyes finally drifted closed he’d decided that the answer was _maybe_. He needed more evidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Up! Babysitting with Clint Barton.


	3. Babysitting With Barton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Dear Shortstack,
> 
> Inside this door you will find the best kid friendly armory ever made. Arm yourself accordingly.
> 
> Hawkeye”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Babysitting with Barton! What could go wrong?
> 
> I started a new job today, and I'm exhausted. But I think I pulled together an awesome chapter for you guys. I really hope you like it.

The next day Steve found himself called out on mission with only him and Nat. He decided, with some input from Nat that leaving Bucky with Clint would be their best option. Aside from the two of them Bucky had the best reaction to Clint and they were hoping he could find some things to do with the kid.

Of course Steve was anxious leaving Bucky behind-but that wasn’t anything new, occasionally since they’d returned they’d been called out and it wasn’t like Bucky was fit for duty. But this somehow felt much closer to outright abandonment, and Steve hated it.

He found himself smiling for the first time all day, ironically when he was dropping Bucky off with Clint when he noticed the note on the door.

“Dear Shortstack,

Inside this door you will find the best kid friendly armory ever made. Arm yourself accordingly.

Hawkeye”

And Steve would have been worried, but he knew there was no way in Hell Clint was going to be giving Bucky any actual weapons, and honestly found himself a bit jealous upon opening the door, and it was even _entirely_ because Bucky had let go of his hand and rushed forward to check out the scene in front of him.

Clint had somehow managed to procure what looked like ever NERF weapon ever created. All the walls in the living room of Clint’s apartment had been painted white and the hardwood floor was covered in thick plastic. Steve looked back at the foam weapons and realized all of the ammunition had been soaked in various colors of dye. This was a little kid’s dream! And Steve had go be all adult and fight the bad guys. Steve smiled then, because this was exactly what Bucky deserved after everything he’d been through-innocent fun.

Steve knew Bucky was aware that Clint had come into the room but had either assessed him as not being a threat (unlikely) had decided Steve could handle it (possible) or he was just too damn wrapped up in Clint’s colored weapons to care (likely).

Clint spoke in low tones to Steve, trying to ensure that Bucky wouldn’t hear them. “I want to show him that it’s okay to be proud of the skills he has-it doesn’t mean he has to hurt people. The skills he has have value-no matter where he learned them. They kept him alive this long.”

Steve immediately felt bad for always thinking of Clint like a kid when he was clearly was capable of being more than mature when the need arose.

“I did the same thing with Nat when I found her-different way-same lesson.”

“Thanks, Clint.” Steve said and clasped his shoulder lightly.

“Hey Buck, I gotta get goin’ now.” Steve told his tiny friend.

“You gotsa be safe, Steve.” The little soldier told him seriously with his hands on Steve’s cheeks. “You gotsa come back to me, ‘kay?”

“I promise, Buck.” And Steve kissed him on the forehead and turned for the door. I fhe hadn’t had super hearing he would have missed Clint telling Bucky “C’mon, Barnes, if you win we can have cookies for dinner.”

“What if you win?”

“Ice cream!” Clint promised and Steve head the sounds of a flesh hand slapping lightly against what he assume was metal.

Steve immediately and intensely regretted every choice he had ever made.

Bucky and Clint never did figure out who the better marksman was, but they sure had a great time NERF-painting Clint’s apartment.

It only took an hour for the once fearsome soldier to turn into a giggling, squirming, paint-covered mess.

It took another hour before the two decided that their masterpiece was finished. Masterpiece may have been overstating it, but Bucky seemed to feel more comfortable in his own skin. Clint _finally_ corralled the tiny assassin in the kitchen and set about making cookies-since neither of them had won, it clearly meant they had to have cookies _and_ ice cream for dinner.

“Let’s eat, kid. Then we can crawl around in the air ducts until you get tired.” Clint said.

A few minutes later the kitchen was filled with the smell of baking cookies and Bucky had a lost look on his face that was shockingly out of place on a child that small.

“I wish my Ma was here. I really miss her.” He said, slightly sullenly.

“Sorry kid, I’d say I missed my Ma too, but I ran away and joined the circus just to get away from her.” Clint offered in return.

Bucky shrugged. “’S okay,” he said, smiling slightly.

Clint found himself actually really liking the Winter Soldier, and for the first time he wished that he’d gotten to know the man Bucky Barnes was before HYDRA tore him apart and rebuilt him to fit their image. He thinks they would have had a lot of fun together-and then he stopped himself, because, eventually Barnes would be normal sized again and maybe they could be friends then. He found himself quite looking forward to the thought.

After dinner Bucky gave himself a bath while Clint sat outside the door with his back to the wall, supervising without being overly involved. After he got out and dried himself off Clint put him in a pair of tiny Black Widow PJs and beamed when the little boy blushed.

The funny thing about kids, even when they were actually adults-was that PBS seemed to have the same effect either way. Bucky dozed off during the first episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, which Bucky had seen on Amazon Prime and begged Clint to watch, “It’s Mr. _Rogers’_ , Clint! Like Steve!”

Just before Bucky completely passed out he looked up at Clint with wide blue eyes. “If my Ma was here, do you think she’d love me?”

“I know she would, kid.” He said and lightly ruffled Bucky’s hair, and he wasn’t even lying because who on earth _wouldn’t_ love this kid.

 

Meanwhile, On the mission.

“Fuck, Rogers, what has your panties in a twist?” Nat asked as they made their way back to the Quinjet.

Steve grumbled something under his breath, before repeating himself louder, “I said, Bucky gets to have a paint fight and I’m stuck here freezing my balls off hiking through the goddamn mountains.”

Nat doubled over laughing and Steve mustered up as much side eye as he possibly could. “I have a lot of friends, Nat, I doubt I’d miss just one.”

At that, she laughed so hard she cried. “You’ve been spending too much time with James.” She declared, wiping her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing. Nothing went wrong.
> 
> So, which Avenger hangs with Bucky next? Who do you want to see?


	4. Don't Trust Tiny Ninjas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This installment features a sleepy Steve Rogers, A Tony Stark who very clearly isn’t as smart as he thinks he is, a Sam Wilson who tells the Winter Soldier that Play-Doh is actually magic, and a Bucky Barnes who is like 87% sure he’s a real boy. He’s also pretty sure he made friends with a robot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of notes before we begin. That chapter count has gone up and the rating has gone down. I might raise it in the future but this is going in a much fluffier direction than I had anticipated. This is as dark as it gets.
> 
> It’s my head canon that since Howard loved Cap so much, Bucky was Tony’s hero growing up-so on top of everything else, and even though it was really unfair, he’s upset that his hero disappointed him.
> 
> This is unbeta-ed. All mistakes are my own. Sometimes my brain moves faster than my fingers.
> 
> Special thanks to Readingrainbowz for the Play-Doh assist.

All Steve wanted when he got home was to grab Bucky from Clint’s and spend the day hanging out with the little man. Unfortunately, Steve had also been awake for about two days at this point and was pushing the limits of even _his_ body. That being said, there’s really no excuse for what happened.

He’d gotten tricked by a five-year-old. Plain and simple. Never trust tiny ninjas. They’d made it about a quarter of the way through Cinderella when Bucky seemed to nod off. At least that’s what Steve had thought when he decided it was safe to fall asleep about twenty minutes later. He woke up an hour later to discover that he was covered in a blanket and Bucky was no where to be found.

In Bucky’s defense, he actually had fallen asleep, only to wake up shortly after. He knew Steve needs his sleep so he decided to leave him alone. He slowly made his way over to the elevator, and when it arrived he stepped inside and pushed a random button. Bucky Barnes was going to have an adventure! He had a strange feeling in his chest, something like the echo of a memory and he realized he was feeling _excited_ and couldn’t stop the smile from lighting up his face.

Bucky’s great adventure lasted approximately forty-five minutes before he found himself in front of the last place he’d ever want to be. Tony’s lab. He was about to turn around and go because Tony didn’t like him and Tony made him feel sad and angry, but was pulled out his thoughts by a quiet whining sound coming from a door a little down the hall, he was sure Tony couldn’t hear it, even with his lab door open, and Bucky knew the only reason he could hear it was because of the serum.

He slowly walked forward until he saw the door-and he saw a small robot with it’s arm caught in the door. It was slowly moving back and forth trying to dislodge the door.

When he changed back into an adult, Bucky would blame what happened next on luck, and the fact that he was five-years-old.

He slowly approached the distressed robot and sat down next to him.

“Hey.” He said to the robot and got a short nod in response.

He hadn’t noticed that Tony had appeared in the door of his lab, intently watching the whole interaction

Bucky thought this was DUM-E. The door didn’t seem to be going anywhere and Bucky wasn’t sure how to help.

“’s okay, pal.” He told the Robot soothingly and patted his head. “Sometimes my arm hurts, too.” He said and pointed to his metal shoulder. “I betcha if you ask real nice Mr. Tony would fix it for ya’. He’ll probly even make sure you can’t feel nothin’! He’s not bad, he’ll make sure you’re sleepin’.”

DUM-E made a scared sounding noise.

“Hey, now. It’s gonna be just fine! I wasn’t sleepin’ and it hurt real bad, but ’s swell now!” He told the robot, unconsciously rubbing a bit at the seam of metal and flesh. Suddenly the door opened, and the little robot was able to free his arm, although there did look to be some circuit damage.

Tony was standing in his lab, open mouth and trying to curb the nausea that was threatening to bring his lunch back up at what he’d just heard. He was sure that Barnes had just said that he was awake, aware, and in pain during his amputation. Not to mention that he was pretty sure the arm was _wired into the man’s central nervous system._

Tony was pretty sure that if it’d been him, he’d have been ready to do anything, and everything asked of him if it had just meant they would knock him out. Despite his desire to pretend otherwise sympathy for Barnes was staying to leak into his stream of consciousness. Even worse, after watching his interaction with DUM-E Tony was actually starting to like him. He needed to get a handle on this or by the end of it, he’d by the end he’d be as star-eyed for Barnes as Coulson had been for Cap.

His disturbing thoughts were interrupted when he saw a harried looking Cap striding out of the elevator. “James Buchanan Barnes.” Steve said, and oh lordy was he pissed. Barnes gained another point in Tony’s book when instead of cowing like a normal child would under the frustration of an adult, squared his jaw and looked Cap right in the eyes.

He could tell that Cap wanted to say more but contented himself with picking up his friend when the smaller reached his arms out. He heard Steve saying “You can’t just run off like that, Buck. I was real worried.” And Bucky consolingly patting his face, but not promising to stay put next time.

“What’cha wanna have for dinner, brat?” Steve asked him.

“The macaronis with the shapes!” Bucky shouted in the way kids did when they thought they were being quiet.

Steve quickly checked the cabinets and once again thanked the universe for Clint Barton. It was really becoming a habit!

“Princesses or Dinosaurs?” Steve asked, because Bucky making his own choices was important.

Bucky thought seriously about his answer. “Dinosaurs.” He said with an air of authority that was ridiculous on a five-year-old.

After dinosaur macaroni and bath time it was time for bed. Bucky begged Steve to let him watch a movie and Steve conceded on the condition that they put the movie on in their room so they could fall asleep.

Bucky insisted that they watch _The Sound of Music_ and if it had been any other five-year-old Steve would have argued, but who was he to tell Bucky he couldn’t watch a movie because of _Nazis_ of all things.

Steve wasn’t sure what did it, whether it was the Nazis, or the mountains or what, but he had a terrible nightmare that night, with Bucky falling, and falling. He was sure he was screaming but he couldn’t wake himself up. He finally came back to himself when he felt tiny hands beating on his chest.

“Sorry about that. Nightmare.” Steve told him.

“’s okay, Stevie, I get ‘em too.” Bucky slurred out before promptly falling back to sleep and drooling on Steve’s shoulder.

Steve rubbed his friend’s tiny back and allowed himself to be content with the knowledge that his friend was alive, and warm and safe.

The next day Steve had to go do something he’d been putting off since Peggy died. He needed to go collect the things from Sharon that she’d left him. Sam had volunteered to watch Bucky for the couple hours Steve would be gone, so he was heading up to Sam’s floor, with a tiny soldier in tow.

“I don’t needs a babysitter!” Bucky kept insisting, even though Steve knew for a fact he’d loved the time he’d spent with Clint. Steve had finally figured out that it was less about not wanting a baby sitter and more about not wanting Steve to leave him alone again. But Steve needed to do this, and it had been planned before everything had gone sideways. Bucky had even told him when he’d brought it up a few weeks back, when Steve asked if it was okay for him to do.

“Steve, you’re allowed to do things for yourself.” It wasn’t said with any of Bucky’s charm or sass though, just empty and slightly hollow.

Before Bucky could throw a full-on tantrum Sam opened the door, and Bucky looked him up and down, appraisingly.

“Clint lemme paint his house. Whatcha got for me?” He inquired, and Sam laughed.

“Oh man!” He said. “Tough crowd.” Steve was smiling and shaking his head. “Oh, nothing special,” Sam said flippantly. He shrugged, “just magic.” Bucky perked up at that, and Sam led him inside.

Inside on the kitchen island was every color of Play-Doh you could conceive of. Steve was pretty sure some of the colors weren’t even available in America. He quickly back tracked and made his way out of the apartment, leaving Bucky and Sam and the truly disturbing amount of Play-Doh alone.

Bucky wasn’t an idiot, but he was currently five, so he decided upon further inspection of all the colors, that this _was_ magic. Sam showed him a video of kids building with it and taking it apart and building it again. It reminded Bucky of a newer version of the toys he had last time he was this small. They didn’t throw them away because you could use them over and over again. Sam also explained to him that if you let it dry, it would stay the same shape forever.

Never trust a kid ninja. Steve had warned him. After about thirty minutes of building and unbuilding things with the dough, Sam stepped out for a moment to take a phone call. It ended up lasting about fifteen minutes, and by the time he got back Bucky had somehow gotten ahold of his old wing-set, the one the older Bucky had torn apart, and Sam spend a moment being surprised that he’d even been able to carry it.

Bucky was bent over the set with several jars of Play-Doh sitting at his left side, his face serious and tongue peeking out from between his teeth. “shhh, ‘m fixin’ it.” Bucky told him, his tiny face so serious. And Sam really shouldn’t have been surprised but he was when he looked down the wings. Sam had managed to get them reattached to each other, and extend and retract, but aside from that they were really just a decoration.

But Bucky had taken his Play-Doh and started pushing it into all the places with cracks or scratches, until, though not functional, made a them look almost identical to the way they had before the incident.

Sam was quickly coming to believe that Bucky Barnes was just _sweet_.

Bucky offered him his finished project. “’M sorry I broke ‘em. I didn’t mean to hurt no one.”

Sam really didn’t know what to say to that. So he just went with what he would say to one of his sister’s kids. “Don’t worry, little man. I forgive you.”

“What do you wanna do now, kid?” Sam asked and Bucky thought seriously again. “Cops and Robbers!” He decided, which somehow dissolved into Bucky donning the overlarge wing suit and getting chased around by Sam. But all in all, it was a good day.

Steve showed up to get him not long after and Bucky felt himself falling asleep on Steve’s shoulder, but before he did he thought about the last couple days.

He liked spending time with Clint and Sam. He reminded himself that people liked things.

He _thought_ Play-Doh was magic. People had thoughts.

He _did not_ like baths. People disliked things.

By the time he fell asleep he was roughly 87% certain he was a person, and isn’t that something?


	5. Your Brother's Nice, He Made My Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky really liked Thor. He never made Bucky feel weird when he was big, and he was so big that Bucky felt like Thor could protect him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, got a bit stuck. Enjoy!

Bucky hadn’t interacted with Thor since he’d been de-aged. The God had been away for the last few days dealing with a problem in London. All the Avengers had been worried when they’d heard about Thor’s breakup, but they were all glad that he and Jane had decided to remain friends. So, it was Thor’s first day back in the compound, so he was introduced to Bucky over breakfast, which for Thor was Pop-Tarts and for Bucky was a truly terrifying looking stack of pancakes, covered in chocolate chips and whipped cream.

“Your brother’s nice. He made my pancakes. Said I could have whatevvvver I wanted.” He told Thor, seriously.

Thor barely held himself back from rolling his eyes. Of course Loki would think that plying a small child with an overabundance of sugar was a good plan. God of Mischief, indeed. Clint sauntered in shortly there after “How’d you sleep, kid?” He asked, ruffling Bucky’s hair.

Bucky beamed at the two men in the kitchen. “Good!” He chirped. But then looked worried about what he was going to say next. He found himself whispering even though these people had been nothing but kind to him. “I found out that I’m a person.” He told them like it was the world’s biggest secret.

Thor beamed, remembering when Loki had the same realization after the Chitauri had him for over a year before New York, “Congratulations on your wonderful discovery, Tiny Shield-Brother!” He boomed. “What shall we do to celebrate?” He asked. Bucky really liked Thor. He never made Bucky feel weird when he was big, and he was so big that Bucky felt like Thor could protect him.

And that was how Thor ended up walking around New York with a tiny Winter Soldier, who was really much calmer as a child. He still catalogued his surroundings, but without the menacing murder eyes, the effect was adorable more than frightening.

They were walking through Central Park when they came upon a shelter holding an adoption event, and Bucky found himself running from Thor’s side to see all the tiny furry animals. Thor hung back, making sure Bucky was still in his line of sight, but watching the little boy interreact with the people around him. He saw him go up to a secluded enclosure and peer over the edge, looking in. A kind looking woman who worked for the shelter came up and started speaking to Bucky.

“Is she okay?” Bucky asked the lady.

“Oh yes, she’s quite alright, she’s just a little different. It’ll take someone special to look after her.” The lady told him.

“Can I pick her up? I wanna go show her to my friend.” He asked.

“Of course, dear.” She patted his head, and even though he flinched he didn’t panic.

“Ma’am?” He called back.

“She got thrown out of a car.” The lady told him, kindly.

“Oh! I got thrown out of a train, once!” Bucky didn’t understand why she looked so horrified. It was a really long time ago. He didn’t stop to wonder, running over to Thor with the tiny puppy cradled in his left arm.

“Can I keep her?” He begged the god.

Thor had to give it to the kid, he was good. He knew immediately that he was going to give in, and so did Bucky. He was smart, he knew there was no way Thor could say no to an adorable three-legged puppy held in Bucky’s metal hand. He was really playing the sympathy card. And Thor was glad, Steve had told him about Bucky’s charm, but he’d never had the chance to see it firsthand, not since they’d finally brought Bucky home.

It also wasn’t lost on Thor that this was the first time Bucky had really, truly _asked_ for something, without being afraid, just because he wanted it. Thor remembered when Loki went through the same thing, and he knew immediately he would tell the boy he could keep the dog simply because of how big a deal it was that he had asked.

“Of course you can, Sergeant.” The shelter lady looked askance at the way Thor addressed Bucky. So they filled out the paper work and after a stop at the pet store were headed back to the Avenger Complex.

Bucky spent the brief ride back reading the Harry Potter book Jane had sent from London when she learned what had happened, and he was absolutely engrossed. All of a suddenly he sighed forlornly. “Quidditch sounds so cool.” He sounded wistful and Thor laughed. He made a note to talk to Loki about putting together some kind of game-he was convinced that with Loki’s magic and his own magic over the weather, they could put together a Quidditch game or two for the child.

Bucky jumped out and raced inside, still holding the dog, smiling and running, “c’mon Minerva! Let’s go see Stevie. Thanks, Thor!” He shouted over his shoulder.

Steve took the addition of the dog in stride when Bucky first presented her to him. He gave Thor a look that clearly stated they’d be discussing this later but didn’t get around to it until Bucky was asleep.

Thor had excused himself for a short while when Steve had gone to put Bucky to bed and Loki he’d eagerly agreed to help stage an Avengers Quidditch match the following day. Steve found him not much later.

“Just out of curiosity, why’d you let him get a dog?” Truthfully, Steve was overjoyed, he’d never gotten to have pets when he was a kid, he’d been allergic.

Thor looked at him and answered honestly. “Because he asked for it.”

The Captain’s eyes widened and he smiled brightly and didn’t say anything for a long time afterward.


	6. Bronx Zoo Safari

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve laughed when he heard Bucky seriously tell one of the goats, “One day, I’m gonna have a goat. Maybe tomorrow coz I just got Minnie yesterday. Steve was laughing but also getting slightly concerned, he wanted to make sure that Bucky knew the zoo wasn’t actually a pet store. He voiced his concerns to Bucky who just rolled his eyes like Steve was the world’s biggest tool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's he hanging with/what's happening next? Let me know.

Bucky seemed so happy with his new puppy that Steve couldn’t help but be pleased for him. And Bucky didn’t even complain when the dog woke him up to go outside or needed to be walked. Steve was also excited because he’d finally managed to clear his schedule for the next day so that he could finally spend some much needed time with his best friend. He felt like he’d been called away more than usual ever since Bucky got smaller and he was determined to make it up to his friend.

Bucky was once again eating pancakes that were more sugar than anything else and Steve really needed to talk to Loki about the things they were feeding the kid.

“Hey Buck!” Steve said, and ruffled his friends hair. “I have the whole day off today, what do you wanna do?” He asked.

Bucky found himself beaming up at Steve, he was so excited, Steve was his favorite person in the whole world, and he as going to spend the whole day with Bucky.

“I wanna go to the zoo!” He announced. And he did, but most importantly, he wanted to go to the zoo with Steve. He remembered when they were both little how badly Stevie had wanted to go see the animals, but he couldn’t because his lungs were bad. But they weren’t bad anymore so they could go to the zoo as much as they wanted.

Steve smiled at his tiny friend. He was really excited to go to the zoo with Bucky like he wanted all those years ago, when poor health and poverty prevented them.

Steve made the fatal mistake of allowing Bucky to dress himself. He came in beaming at Steve, proudly wearing a Captain America long sleeved shirt that hid his hand, with purple gym shorts and child’s combat boots. Steve did his best to smile back even though inwardly he was cringing.

He tried to channel his inner Sam. Sam would tell him it was important that Bucky was making his own choices, even when it came to something as small as clothes. So Steve congratulated him on an outfit well chosen and completed the look with a kid sized set of binoculars. “For when the animals are _far away_ , Stevie. Duh!” Bucky had reminded him.

So at 10:45 in the morning, Captain America and the Littlest Assassin boarded the subway and headed for the Bronx Zoo.

Bucky’s eyes widened when he saw Steve pay for the tickets, he was shocked at how expensive things had gotten, It was almost $23 stinkin’ dollars for Stevie and not that much less for Bucky. It used to be $0.10!

“Oh Steve! Can we go see the goats first? At the kid’s zoo?” He asked, and Steve snorted. This zoo had pretty much any animal you could want to see, but his friend wanted to go see the goats, of course he did. Even as an adult Bucky had always seen things slightly differently than other people. Hell, Steve thought, he was always different about Steve, too.

They made their way towards the children’s zoo, and Steve had an amazing time watching Bucky giggle at the Ant Eaters, smile at the prairie dogs and fall absolutely in love with the tiny Nubian Goats.

Steve laughed when he heard Bucky seriously tell one of the goats, “One day, I’m gonna have a goat. Maybe tomorrow coz I just got Minnie yesterday. Steve was laughing but also getting slightly concerned, he wanted to make sure that Bucky knew the zoo wasn’t actually a pet store. He voiced his concerns to Bucky who just rolled his eyes like Steve was the world’s biggest tool.

Bucky had wanted to go see the giraffe’s next but Steve put his foot down, because he wanted a chance to draw Tiny!Bucky in front of the snow leopards in the Himalayan exhibit. Steve had a brief moment of discomfort worrying that Bucky was getting took close to the enclosure, but quickly brushed the thought off, and stopped himself from mentioning anything. Once he’d finished his drawing he let Bucky lead him towards the giraffe house, but made sure that they stopped for ice cream on the way. Steve stuck with good old fashioned chocolate chip, but Bucky got some kind of blue monstrosity that Steve was pretty sure was just blue dye and frozen malt balls, but Bucky took to it like it was the best thing he’d ever tasted, and so, Steve let it go.

Looking back on the day, Steve would always remember how adorable and carefree Bucky looed with his blue-mouth staring up at the giraffes in wonder. He tugged on Steve’s hand and looked up into his eyes. “They’re so big, Stevie. Are they as big as you?”

Steve play gasped, “they’re bigger!” He said and found himself tickling the squirming child.

They stopped at the gift shop on their way to the mouse house. Bucky had a blast picking out all the zoo related souvenirs his heart desired, and Steve didn’t have it in him to say no to anything, not with Bucky and not today.

When they finally left, Bucky had a backpack that said “Bronx Zoo Safari” with colorful little animals all over it, an explorers hat, like a jungle adventurer, a stuff giraffe that was almost as big as he was and a plush snake that coiled around his shoulders.

Steve was impressed that Bucky had lasted as long as he had. They’d been at the zoo for hours and Bucky was just starting to fade as they left the mouse house, and Steve quickly found himself with an armful of kid, not that he minded, not at all. But Bucky was clearly falling asleep with his still blue mouth, head resting on Steve’s shoulder and insisting that they went to see the jungle exhibit because of his hat.

Once he was sure that Bucky was completely out he stopped and asked a tourist to take a picture of them together, an offering to do the same for the other group. They parted ways and Steve set the picture as the lock screen on his phone. It was one of his favorite pictures ever taken of them. Right at that moment he made a note to himself that he was going to start taking more pictures, not just of Bucky but of all of their friends.

Steve would have been surprised that Bucky had slept all the way back to the tower (they’d been there regrouping for a few days since their last full team mission) except that he’d made the decision to call a car instead of taking the subway. Steve debated waking Bucky up to wash his face and change his clothes, but in the end decided to just tackle that in the morning.

Steve tried to disentangle himself from Bucky and set the youngster into bed, but Bucky held on with his left hand, so Steve just resigned himself to going to bed, he figured it was probably late enough, especially since he was pushing a hundred.


	7. The Space Gladiator and The Asset.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky was glaring at Steve like the whole world was against him. He had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Steve looked apologetic, but they all knew he was going to have to go, so Bruce did his best to distract that kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay. Yesterday was legit one of the worst days I've ever had. I still pulled most of this out for you guyslast night. I really hope you like it.

A/N: My husband looked up the ingredients for a baking soda volcano and lets just say I simplified them.

 

Steve wasn’t proud of how long it took to get the blue off Bucky’s mouth the next morning, and hoped it wasn’t an experience he would have to repeat. As much as he loved this child Bucky he was starting to miss the brooding older version, too.

He missed a lot of things about broody Bucky, but foremost in the front of his mind was his friend’s ability to bathe himself. Steve had finally gotten himself and Bucky ready for the day and down to the communal kitchen when Stark’s phone started going off.

“Well, that’s all of us except the Doctor and the Kid.” Tony rattled off.

Bruce just shrugged and Bucky looked put out. Bruce hadn’t exactly been avoiding the kid, he’d just been busy. Well, both of them had been busy. Bruce was barely recovered from being a space gladiator (isn’t that a trip?) and Bucky was barely recovered from being the Asset. They’d both had a lot going on.

But Bruce quickly realized this was his chance to be in Kid!Winter duty, and while Bruce hadn’t spent time with Bucky yet, he _had_ been working on something for exactly this occasion. He knew he’d be hanging out with the kid eventually, and he was prepared for every eventuality (He really hadn’t).

Bucky was glaring at Steve like the whole world was against him. He had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Steve looked apologetic, but they all knew he was going to have to go, so Bruce did his best to distract that kid.

“Hey Bucky, do you want to go hang out in the lab?” He offered, and smiled slightly when Bucky stood on his tip toes to whisper in Bruce’s ear, “Is Mr. Tony gonna be there?” Bruce shook his head gently.

Bucky turned back to the group with a huge smile.

“Bye, Steve!” He chirped and grabbed Bruce’s hand and started leading them out of the lab.

Before the accident Bruce had always wanted to have children, well, at least one. He’d been confident he wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes as his father, and he’d really looked forward to spending time doing experiments with them. Then of course, the accident happened, and those plans went out the window, so he was looking forward to playing with the kid.

When they got to the lab, Bruce pulled out a pre-made plaster volcano that he had made a few days ago, it had just finished drying yesterday. Bucky eyes were almost bugging out of his head and he was bouncing on his heels.

“Can we make it explode?” He asked, excitedly, which in turn made Bruce start nodding like the mad scientist he always wanted to be.

Bruce found himself laughing out loud while Bucky jumped up and down and clapped his hands together, which made quite the interesting sound. It resonated, something like low-tone bell. Bruce made a show of pulling out the baking soda and vinegar and other various ingredients and placing the all on the table.

Bucky made to run over to the table only to have Bruce grab him lightly around the waist, spin around and place him firmly back on the floor.

“Safety first!” He chided gently and Bucky looked slightly sheepish. Bruce wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh as he watched Bucky put on the huge safety goggles and over-sized lab coat. Finally, Bucky made his way over to the table. Bruce stepped up next to him, and Bucky glared fiercely.

“Ahem. Ma’ says you gotta do what you say.” He told the Doctor before handing him his very own pair of goggles. Bruce smiled and put them on.

“Okay,” Bruce said, holding out the bottle of vinegar and waiting for Bucky to grab it before securing the baking soda in his own.

“3-2-1” Bucky said and they poured it into he volcano. Both Bucky and Bruce were giggling when the volcano sent out foamy rivulets of shockingly pink lava. It seemed to go on forever, and Bruce was slightly jealous that he didn’t have professional scientists to help him with his science fair projects when he was little and could have used it.

He put aside his morose thoughts and cleaned up and reassembled their volcano, and then the two of them spent the better part of an hour making their volcano explode and cleaning it up only to start all over again.

They were still laughing and both covered in a myriad of fun colors. Bucky couldn’t believe how much fun he was having with his new friends (he had friends)! He’d always had Steve but these people knew what he’d done when he was big and wanted to become his friend anyway, that was awesome and it made Bucky so happy. He’d smiled more in the last few days than he had in the past seventy years. He’d heard the others talking and he’d worked out that this was somehow the fault of Thor’s brother.

Bucky didn’t mind though, he knew he’d have to be big again eventually, and that would be hard, but for right now, he was working on making the best of the situation and enjoying his time with his new friends.

FullSized!Bucky would be so disappointed in Tiny!Bucky for what happened next, he’d been so engrossed in his thoughts about friends and being a person that he missed the fact that somehow Butterginers had made his way into the lab-Dum-E was still on bed rest after the door incident, and had started soldering something that was now very obviously smoking.

Bruce was looking around for the source of the smoke, but because Bucky was smaller he had a better line of sight. Bruce wasn’t quite ready to hulk out, but he looked nervous and very uncomfortable.

Bruce told him to stay put and began looking frantically around for a fire extinguisher, while Bucky catalogued the scene. He’d just finished his initial threat assessment when a loud popping noise caught his attention.

Even small as he was he was still strong and still had all his reflexes, so, he (gently) kicked Bruce’s legs out from under him and went vaulting over a lab table in the direction of the popping noise, ripped the small item that Butterfingers had been fixing from his smoking hands, and tossed the flaming piece of tech into the hood and slamming the door closed. 

Bruce was looking at him, slightly dumb founded, shocked at how quickly and efficiently Bucky had taken care of the whole mess. He’d been close to hulking about and was very glad it hadn’t come to that.

“Are you okay?” Bruce asked him, still far more shaken than the kid. Bucky just nodded. Bruce felt like he should give Bucky some kind of lecture about holding things that were hot, but Bucky was, in actuality, a hundred years old and he’d grabbed said flaming item with his metal hand so, Bruce just shrugged.

Bruce wasn’t quite sure what to do now, but Bucky came up and placed his small hand on the Doctor’s arm.

“’S Okay, Doc, I gotsa Hulk too!” He said and pointed to his head. Bruce gave him was meant to be a smile but probably just looked like a pathetic grimace.

“I had a real good time playin’ science!” He said, beaming up at the doctor. This time, Bruce really did smile back, just in time for Steve to show up and reclaim Bucky.

“Stevie!” He shrieked in a way that would have made Adult!Bucky extremely embarrassed, but he was just a kid who was excited to see his friend.

“Hey Buck!” Steve said, scooping to kid into his arms. “Did you have fun with Doctor Banner?” He asked, and Bucky nodded enthusiastically.

“We made a volcano and then Butterfingers made something ‘splode!” Steve shot Bruce a not-completely-unfriendly glare and received a small shrug in return. They two waved good bye to Bruce and headed out for their floor, leaving Bruce smiling behind them.


	8. To Tony, I'm sorry, From James.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “To Tonee, I’m sorree, From James” And Steve's heart was still broken, but he gave a small cracked smile as he remembered how long it had taken for Bucky to understand the difference between “ee” and “y”.
> 
> Warning, this one hurts. Poor Bucky. He needs all the hugs. This is darker than I wanted to go, but it just wouldn't leave me alone and someone advised I post it anyway. I hope you like it. Next chapter is back to fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves* Hi.
> 
> Thank you for being so patient with me. The new job was more of an adjustment than I thought it would be-I hope you find this worth the wait.

Steve awoke later that night to find his bed sans tiny assassin. It took him all of about give seconds to give in to absolute panic. What if HYDRA had come back for his friend? What if Bucky mysterious re-aged and disappeared again, all on his own? What if-and then Steve heard the whimpering coming from the living room.

Bucky was curled in front of the couch hugging his knees to his chest and crying softly into his arms.

“Buck?” Steve asked, slowly approaching his friend. “You okay, Pal?” he asked, beginning to worry anew when Bucky just shrugged his tiny shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked, quietly.

“I did a bad thing.” Bucky told him, looking up at his with tear stained eyes. “I did a bad thing and I made Mr. Tony’s mom go away.” Steve sat down next to his friend.  Steve already knew they were in for a long night, this was just the tip of the ice berg, and he hoped this continued when he friend returned to full sized.

“I did lotsa bad things.” Bucky amended, almost silently. Bucky slowly crawled into Steve’s lap. And Steve-Steve might have been a little out of his depth here, honestly, but he was going to try. He was pretty sure he would’ve done okay if Bucky had been an adult but how do you help a kid process shit like this?

Bucky looked up into Steve’s eyes. “I did lotsa bad things and-and” he hiccupped and pressed a tiny hand to his own chest. “and it hurts here. Sometimes it hurts, and I can’t breathe.”

Steve stroked his hair “it wasn’t your fault, Buck.” He told the kid.

Bucky shrugged. “I still did it.” And it was the exact same thing adult Bucky had told him, after Steve had found him in Romania.

Steve deflated almost immediately. “I know, bud.” Because what the fuck else could he say? It was true, and he wasn’t in the habit of lying to his friend. No one had respected Bucky in so long Steve felt the least he could do was tell him the truth. They sat there in silence together for a while before Bucky started talking again.

“I have bad dreams ‘bout it. All the time. I still see all their faces, there’s lotsa faces, Stevie.” Bucky tucked his head under Steve’s chin.

“We’ll figure it out.” Steve promised him, because he felt it was all he could do, and was deeply relieved when he felt Bucky nodding into his chest.

“Steve?” Bucky said, a few minutes later.

“Right here, Buck.” Steve confirmed he was still awake.

“They were really mean to me in Russia.” He sucked in a breath and nodded to himself. “They took away my arm when I was still ‘wake.” Steve knew this conversation was going to hurt, he just honestly hadn’t anticipated how sick it would make him, physically. Bucky had barely gotten started and he was already trying not to be sick. He knew how much pain both himself and Bucky could stand, and he knew there was no chance Bucky would have even been able to pass out.

“I was real cold for a long time. I thought I was dyin’.” He continued. Steve sensed that he was nodding off and he both desperately wanted Bucky to continue talking, because he wasn’t sure they’d ever have this conversation again, but he also wanted to never have this conversation again.

The last thing he heard Bucky say before he nodded off completely was a quiet “I used to dream ‘bout you.”

Steve waited for his tears to stop before peeling himself off the floor and tucking Bucky back into bed, knowing sleep was a lost cause for him at this point. He was far too wired after talking with Bucky so he found his way back to the couch, he figured he’d turn on the TV for a while and see the idiots on the news project their opinions onto him in regards to whatever political issue was currently trending, when something on the coffee table caught his eye.

He looked down and saw a smattering of crayons he’d missed and looked at the crudely drawn picture, clearly done by a child, and clearly in distress. On the ground was a black stick figure with long black hair and a silver arm, there was red around his face and Xs where his eyes should be. He was sprawled on the ground in front of a flaming car. In the foreground was a family of three stick figures clearly walking away from the car accident were a man, woman, and child, labled, “Dad, Tony, Mom.” They were holding hands and had huge smiles on their faces, and Steve’s heart was breaking all over again. He looked down at the paper once more to see a few words on the drawing as well.

“To Tonee, I’m sorree, From James” And Steve's heart was still broken, but he gave a small cracked smile as he remembered how long it had taken for Bucky to understand the difference between “ee” and “y”.

Steve didn’t look up again for hours, and finally did only when he heard Tony come into his kitchen hunting down coffee, cursing quietly that he’d let his supply dwindle.

“You’re lucky I’m not asleep, you’re not as quiet as you think you are.” Steve said, loud enough for Tony to hear him, but not loud enough to wake Bucky.

Tony sauntered into the living room, following Steve’s voice, and wondering why Steve was up at this ungodly hour, he figured he’d just come grab the coffee and bolt before anyone had even noticed he was missing (because everyone else was asleep), he hadn’t anticipated running into anyone, let alone Steve.

Steve seemed to be staring intently down at the coffee table. “Whatcha got there, Cap?” Tony said, popping the p. “Anything interesting?” Steve had noticed that Tony was much softer towards both him and Bucky since Bucky’d become a kid. IT was the main reason he hadn’t raised Hell with Loki the moment this started, he couldn’t exactly fault him, because it seemed to be working.

“It’s for you, actually.” Steve said and passed the drawing over. For the first time in his adult life, Tony Stark had been rendered absolutely speechless.

“I’m going to take a shower, you’re welcome to hang out.” Steve told him, knowing that Bucky wouldn’t be up for hours. Steve stretched his back and wondered off to go into the bathroom.

He hadn’t expected, however, what awaited him when he got out. Tony was still in his apartment, crouched over the coffee table, scribbling madly on construction paper, hair sticking up and grinning to himself.

“Excellent.” Steve wasn’t sure if Tony was speaking to Steve or himself, “yes, 24 hours!” He fist pumped the air.

“24 hours until what, Tony?” Steve asked warily, “Barnes wants to play Quidditch. I can make it happen in 24 hours.” He said, confidently.

Steve’s jaw dropped, and he looked like he’d been smacked. Tony would’ve been offended if he hadn’t deserved Steve’s surprise. So he shrugged. “He’s a sad kid, Steve.” Steve nodded. “He always was.” He returned.

“I’m working on it.” Tony responded before turning and heading out the door. He had a Quidditch pitch to build.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was younger I had trouble with vocabulary and spelling, and I still think it’s bullshit that “ee” and “y” make the same sound but can’t be interchangeably used. I have a degree in language and understand the mechanics behind it but, it’s still shit.


	9. A Really Good Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You guys. You guys. It’s Quidditch time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back.

It took just over 24 hours for Tony to complete the Quidditch Pitch. All that was left was making sure that Thor and Loki were able to work their magic and collectively find a way to keep broom sticks airborne for an extended period of time.

When he went back to the house to tell Steve he found him hanging out in the kitchen with pint sized Barnes hanging off his back holding on with his hands around Steve’s neck. After the nightmare the night before, Bucky couldn’t find it in himself to look at Tony. He remembered more and more, and things were coming to him faster and faster. He knew it had been significantly worse in the beginning and that these were just stragglers coming back to him now.

And he was sure he remembered the important things now, but that didn’t stopTony from making him feel bad and he couldn’t help hiding his face and sniffling lightly into Steve. Tony still wasn’t sure how to react to Barnes now, knowing what he knows. He nodded subtly at Steve, conveying that their project was close to completion and wandered off to find The Brothers’ Grimm to let them know.

Bucky was still feeling tired from his nightmare the night before, and he was glad that Steve had agreed they could have a lazy day.

Tony finally found the aliens speaking in low tones in the back yard, clearly arguing over the teams they were going to be on for the upcoming match.’

Loki nodded and informed them he’d be back within the hour with “suitable flying devices.”

Tony was feeling excited. He was looking forward to doing this for Barnes, and wasn’t that a strange feeling?

He went and grabbed Steve and Bucky and led them down to his make shift Quidditch pitch, Steve smiling and Bucky looking around with hearts in his eyes.

“Stevie…look…” He whispered completely entranced point at the hoops in the sky.

Steve had to give Tony credit, it was movie set worthy, and it appeared to be regulation size. Yes, when Bucky had mentioned Quidditch Steve looked up everything he could about it, turns out, there was a lot.

Steve was about to answer, when Loki turn up with what looked like several handheld vacuum cleaners trailing behind him.

“Brooms are very 2007.” He explained, gesturing to his floating entourage.

Within five minutes they had all climbed aboard their vacuum cleaners and Thor had created little individual tornados under each player that would keep them airborne for the duration of the game.

They didn’t have enough people to fill out two entire Quidditch teams, so they ended up playing a game of four on four. Bucky picked Steve, Natasha, and, surprisingly, Tony, and Thor ended up on a team with Loki, Clint and Sam.

Somehow, Loki had managed to procure the actual props from the movie set, and with a little bit of magic was able to make the snitch fly, just like it had in the movies. Clint and Bucky had been designated seekers, because of their exceptional eyesight, and it wasn’t long before they were racing around trying to spot the small, golden, ball.

Steve and Thor took turns racing up the field and firing goals on Tony and Loki, who, to their credit, took the whole thing in stride. Sam and Natasha were subtly trying to knock the others off their game.

Clint saw the snitch first, but Bucky was the one to catch it. He cleverly used his size to his advantage and slipped right around Clint and under his out stretched arm.

It had been a really good day so far. They all dismounted their vacuums and headed back into the house, Tony promised them that he was going to barbecue on the grill that night, and he actually meant it, he couldn’t remember the last time he cooked for anyone, much less this many people, but he once again, found himself looking forward to it.

After dinner everyone settled in to watch a movie, Bucky had picked “An American Tale.” About a mouse how comes to America, and the Avengers couldn’t say no the tiny assassin, for an assassin, he sure had a set of puppy dog eyes.

Of course he then promptly fell asleep halfway through. Even in this form Bucky had trouble sleeping, so they all tried to just let him when he fell asleep, no matter how strange a place it happened to be.

Steve carried Bucky back to their space when the movie was over, and laid him gently in bed. Steve was about to go get ready for bed himself when a tiny hand grabbed ahold of him.

Bucky looked at Steve with sleepy eyes, “‘as a real good day, Stevie. I had fun.” He said before releasing Steve and rolling over.

“Yeah, Buck,” Steve whispered into the night, “it was a really good day.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always up for feedback and ideas! <3


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